The "We Can Do It!" war-propaganda poster from 1943 was re-appropriated as a symbol of the feminist movement in the 1980s.
The feminist movement (also known as the women's movement, or simply feminism) refers to a series of political campaigns for reforms on issues such as reproductive rights, domestic violence, maternity leave, equal pay, women's suffrage, sexual harassment, and sexual violence, all of which fall under the label of feminism and the feminist movement. The movement's priorities vary among nations and communities, and range from opposition to female genital mutilation in one country, to opposition to the glass ceiling in another.
Feminism in parts of the Western world has gone through three waves. First-wave feminism was oriented around the station of middle- or upper-class white women and involved suffrage and political equality. Second-wave feminism
attempted to further combat social and cultural inequalities. Although
the first wave of feminism involved mainly middle class white women, the
second wave brought in women of color and women from other developing
nations that were seeking solidarity. Third-wave feminism
is continuing to address the financial, social and cultural
inequalities and includes renewed campaigning for greater influence of
women in politics and media. In reaction to political activism,
feminists have also had to maintain focus on women's reproductive
rights, such as the right to abortion.
Feminism in China started in the 20th century with the Chinese Revolution in 1911. In China, Feminism has a strong association with socialism and class issues.
Some commentators believe that this close association is damaging to
Chinese feminism and argue that the interests of party are placed before
those of women.
History
Feminist movement in Western society
Feminism in the United States, Canada and a number of countries in
western Europe has been divided into three waves by feminist scholars: first, second and third-wave feminism. Recent (early 2010s) research suggests there may be a fourth wave characterized, in part, by new media platforms.
The women’s movement became more popular in May 1968 when women began to read again, more widely, the book The Second Sex, written in 1949 by a defender of women’s rights, Simone de Beauvoir,
(and translated into English for the first time in 1953; later
translation 2009). De Beauvior's writing explained why it was difficult
for talented women to become successful. The obstacles de Beauvoir
enumerates include women’s inability to make as much money as men do in
the same profession, women’s domestic responsibilities, society’s lack
of support towards talented women, and women’s fear that success will
lead to an annoyed husband or prevent them from even finding a husband
at all. De Beauvoir also argues that woman lack ambition because of how
they are raised. Girls are told to follow the duties of their mothers,
whereas boys are told to exceed the accomplishments of their fathers.
Along with other influences, Simone de Beauvoir’s work helped the
feminist movement to erupt, causing the formation of Le Mouvement de
Libération des Femmes (The Women’s Liberation Movement). This determined
group of women wanted to turn these ideas into actions. Contributors to
The Women’s Liberation Movement include Simone de Beauvoir, Christiane Rochefort, Christine Delphy
and Anne Tristan. Through actions the women were able to get few equal
rights for example right to education, right to work, and right to vote.
One of the most important issues that The Women’s Liberation movement
faced was the banning of abortion and contraception. The women saw this
banning as a violation of women’s rights and were determined to fight
it. Thus, the women made a declaration known as Le Manifeste de 343
which held signatures from 343 women admitting to having had an illegal
abortion. The declaration got published in Le Nouvel Observateur and Le
Monde, two French newspapers on 5 April 1971. The group gained support
upon the publication. Women received the right to abort with the passing
of the Veil Law in 1975.
The Women's movement effected change in Western society, including women's suffrage,
the right to initiate divorce proceedings and "no fault" divorce, the
right of women to make individual decisions regarding pregnancy
(including access to contraceptives and abortion), and the right to own property. It has also led to broad employment for women at more equitable wages, and access to university education.
In 1918 Crystal Eastman
wrote an article published in the Birth Control Review, she contended
that birth control is a fundamental right for women and must be
available as an alternative if they are to participate fully in the
modern world. “In short, if feminism, conscious and bold and
intelligent, leads the demand, it will be supported by the secret
eagerness of all women to control the size of their families, and a
suffrage state should make short work of repealing these old laws that
stand in the way of birth control.” She stated “I don’t believe there is
one woman within the confines of this state who does not believe in
birth control!”
The United Nations Human Development Report 2004 estimated
that when both paid employment and unpaid household tasks are accounted
for, on average women work more than men. In rural areas of selected
developing countries women performed an average of 20% more work than
men, or 120% of men's total work, an additional 102 minutes per day. In
the OECD
countries surveyed, on average women performed 5% more work than men, or
105% of men's total work—an additional 20 minutes per day. However, men
did up to 19 minutes more work per day than women in five out of the
eighteen OECD countries surveyed: Canada, Denmark, Hungary, Israel, and
The Netherlands. According to UN Women,
"Women perform 66 percent of the world's work, produce 50 percent of
the food, but earn 10 percent of the income and own 1 percent of the
property."
The feminist movement's agenda includes acting as a counter to
the putatively patriarchal strands in the dominant culture. While
differing during the progression of waves, it is a movement that has
sought to challenge the political structure, power holders, and cultural
beliefs or practices.
Although antecedents to feminism may be found far back before the
18th century, the seeds of the modern feminist movement were planted
during the late part of that century. Christine de Pizan,
a late medieval writer, was possibly the earliest feminist in the
western tradition. She is believed to be the first woman to make a
living out of writing. Feminist thought began to take a more substantial
shape during the Enlightenment with such thinkers as Lady Mary Wortley Montagu and the Marquis de Condorcet championing women's education. The first scientific society for women was founded in Middelburg, a city in the south of the Dutch republic, in 1785. Journals for women that focused on issues like science became popular during this period as well.
The women who made the first efforts towards women's suffrage
came from more stable and privileged backgrounds, and were able to
dedicate time and energy into making change. Initial developments for
women, therefore, mainly benefited white women in the middle and upper
classes.
Feminism in China
Prior to the 20th century, women in China were considered essentially different from men.
In the patriarchal society, the struggle for women's emancipation
means to enact laws that guarantee women's full equality of race, sex,
property and freedom of marriage. In order to further eliminate the
legacy of the class society of patriarchal women (drowning of infants, corset, footbinding,
etc.), discrimination, play, mutilate women's traditional prejudice and
habitual forces on the basis of the development of productive forces,
it is gradually needful on achieving gender in politics, economy, social
and family aspects of equality.
Before the westernization movement and the reform movement, women had set off a wave of their own strength in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom
(1851–1864). However, there are too many women from the bottom
identities in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. It is difficult to get rid
of the fate of being used. Until the end of the Qing Dynasty, women with
more knowledges took the initiative in the fight for women's rights and
that is where feminism basically started.
The term 'feminism' was first transmitted to China in 1791 which
was proposed by Olympe de Gouges and promoted the 'women's liberation'.
The feminist movement in China was mainly kickstarted and driven by male
feminists prior to female feminists.
Key male feminists in China in the 19th to 20th century included
Liang Qichao, Ma Junwu and Jin Tianhe. In 1897, Liang Qichao proposed
banning of foot-binding and encouraged women to engage in the workforce,
political environment and education. The foot-binding costume had long
been established in China which was an act to display the beauty and
social status of women by binding their feet into an extremely small
shoe with good decorations and ornaments.
Liang Qichao proposed the abolishment of this act due to concern the
health of female being a supportive wives and caring mothers. He also
proposed to reduce the number of female dependents in family and
encouraged women to receive the rights of education and enter the
workforce to be economic independent from men and finally help the
nation to reach higher wealth and prosperity. For feminist Ma Junwu and
Jin Tianhe, they both supported the equality between husbands and wives,
women enjoy legitimate and equal rights and also rights to enter the
political sphere. A key assertion from Jin Tianhe was women as the
mother of the nation. These views from male feminists in early feminism
in China represented the image of ideal women in the imagination of men.
Key female feminists in China in the 19th to 20th century
included Lin Zongsu, He Zhen, Chen Xiefen and Qiu Jin. The female
feminists in early China focused more on the methods or ways that women
should behave and liberate themselves to achieve equal and deserved
rights and independence. He Zhen expressed her opinion that women's
liberation was not correlated to the interest of the nation and she
analysed three reasons behind the male feminists included: following the
Western trend, to alleviate their financial burdens and high quality of
reproduction. Besides, Li Zongsu proposed that women should strive for
their legitimate rights which includes broader aspects than the male
feminists: call for their own right over men, the Qing Court and in an
international extent.
In the Qing Dynasty, the discussion on feminism had two
dimensions including the sex differences between men and women such as
maternal role and duties of women and social difference between genders;
the other dimension was the aim of liberation of women. The view of the
feminists were diverse: some believed feminism was benefiting the
nation and some believed feminism was associated with the individual
development of female in improving their rights and welfare.
In the 1970s, the Marxist philosophy about female and feminism
was transmitted to China and became the guiding principle of feminism
movement in China by introducing class struggle theories to address
gender quality. In the 1990s, more female scholars were adapted to
feminism in Western countries, and they promoted feminism and equal
rights for women by publishing, translating and carrying out research on
global feminism and made feminism in China as one part of their study
to raise more concern and awareness for gender equality issues.
Language
Feminists are sometimes, though not exclusively, proponents of using non-sexist language, such as using "Ms." to refer to both married and unmarried women. Feminists are also often proponents of using gender-inclusive language, such as "humanity" instead of "mankind", or "they" in place of "he" where the gender is unknown.
Gender-neutral language is language usage which is aimed at minimizing assumptions regarding the gender of human referents. The advocacy of gender-neutral language reflects, at least, two different agendas: one aims to clarify the inclusion
of both sexes or genders (gender-inclusive language); the other
proposes that gender, as a category, is rarely worth marking in language
(gender-neutral language). Gender-neutral language is sometimes
described as non-sexist language by advocates and politically correct language by opponents.
Not only has the movement come to change the language into gender
neutral but the feminist movement has brought up how people use
language. Emily Martin describes the concept of how metaphors are
gendered and ingrained into everyday life. Metaphors are used in
everyday language and have become a way that people describe the world.
Martin explains that these metaphors structure how people think and in
regards to science can shape what questions are being asked. If the
right questions are not being asked then the answers are not going to be
the right either. For example, the aggressive sperm and passive egg is a
metaphor that felt 'natural' to people in history but as scientists
have reexamined this phenomenon they have come up with a new answer.
"The sperm tries to pull its getaway act even on the egg itself, but is
held down against its struggles by molecules on the surface of the egg
that hook together with counterparts on the sperm's surface, fastening
the sperm until the egg can absorb it." This is a goal in feminism to see these gendered metaphors and bring it
to the public's attention. The outcome of looking at things in a new
perspective can produce new information.
Heterosexual relationships
The increased entry of women into the workplace beginning in the 20th century has affected gender roles and the division of labor within households. Sociologist Arlie Russell Hochschild in The Second Shift and The Time Bind
presents evidence that in two-career couples, men and women, on
average, spend about equal amounts of time working, but women still
spend more time on housework. Feminist writer Cathy Young
responds to Hochschild's assertions by arguing that, in some cases,
women may prevent the equal participation of men in housework and
parenting.
Economists Mark Aguiar and Erik Hurst calculate that the amount of time
spent on housework by women since the 1960s has dropped considerably.
Leisure for both men and women has risen significantly and by about the
same amount for both sexes. Jeremy Greenwood, Ananth Seshadri and
Mehmet Yorukoglu argue that the introduction of modern appliances into
the home has allowed women to enter the work force.
Feminist criticisms of men's contributions to child care and
domestic labor in the Western middle class are typically centered around
the idea that it is unfair for women to be expected to perform more
than half of a household's domestic work and child care when both
members of the relationship perform an equal share of work outside the
home. Several studies provide statistical evidence that the financial
income of married men does not affect their rate of attending to
household duties.
In Dubious Conceptions, Kristin Luker
discusses the effect of feminism on teenage women's choices to bear
children, both in and out of wedlock. She says that as childbearing out of wedlock
has become more socially acceptable, young women, especially poor young
women, while not bearing children at a higher rate than in the 1950s,
now see less of a reason to get married before having a child. Her
explanation for this is that the economic prospects for poor men are
slim, hence poor women have a low chance of finding a husband who will
be able to provide reliable financial support due to the rise of
unemployment from more workers on the market, from just men to women and
men.
Some studies have suggested that both men and women perceive
feminism as being incompatible with romance. However, a recent survey of
U.S. undergraduates and older adults found that feminism actually has a
positive impact on relationship health for women and sexual
satisfaction for men, and found no support for negative stereotypes of
feminists.
Virginia Satir
said the need for relationship education emerged from shifting gender
roles as women gained greater rights and freedoms during the 20th
century:
"As we moved into the 20th century, we arrived with a very clearly prescribed way that males and females in marriage were to behave with one another ... The pattern of the relationship between husband and wife was that of the dominant male and submissive female ... A new era has since dawned ... the climate of relationships had changed, and women were no longer willing to be submissive ... The end of the dominant/submissive model in relationships was in sight. However, there was very little that had developed to replace the old pattern; couples floundered ... Retrospectively, one could have expected that there would be a lot of chaos and a lot of fall-out. The change from the dominant/submissive model to one of equality is a monumental shift. We are learning how a relationship based on genuine feelings of equality can operate practically."
— Virginia Satir, Introduction to PAIRS
Religion
Feminist theology
is a movement that reconsiders the traditions, practices, scriptures,
and theologies of religions from a feminist perspective. Some of the
goals of feminist theology include increasing the role of women among
the clergy and religious authorities, reinterpreting male-dominated
imagery and language about God, determining the place of women in
relation to career and motherhood, and studying images of women in the
religion's sacred texts.
The feminist movement has affected religion and theology in profound ways. In liberal branches of Protestant Christianity, women are now allowed to be ordained as clergy, and in Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist Judaism, women are now allowed to be ordained as rabbis and cantors.
In some of these groups, some women are gradually obtaining positions
of power that were formerly only held by men, and their perspectives are
now sought out in developing new statements of belief. These trends,
however, have been resisted within most sects of Islam, Roman Catholicism, and Orthodox Christianity.
Within Roman Catholicism, most women understand that, through the dogma
of the faith, they are to hold, within the family, a place of love and
focus on the family. They also understand the need to rise above that
doesn't necessarily constitute a woman to be considered less than, but
in fact equal to, that of her husband who is called to be the patriarch
of the family and provide love and guidance to his family as well.
Christian feminism is a branch of feminist theology which seeks to reinterpret and understand Christianity in light of the equality of women and men (Feminine Genius, St. Pope John Paul II, Vatican.va).
While there is no standard set of beliefs among Christian feminists,
most agree that God does not discriminate on the basis of biologically
determined characteristics such as sex.
Early feminists such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton
concentrated almost solely on "making women equal to men." However, the
Christian feminist movement chose to concentrate on the language of
religion because they viewed the historic gendering of God as male as a
result of the pervasive influence of patriarchy. Rosemary Radford Ruether provided a systematic critique of Christian theology from a feminist and theist point of view. Stanton was an agnostic and Reuther is an agnostic who was born to Catholic parents but no longer practices the faith.
Islamic feminism is concerned with the role of women in Islam and aims for the full equality of all Muslims,
regardless of gender, in public and private life. Although rooted in
Islam, the movement's pioneers have also utilized secular and Western
feminist discourses. Advocates of the movement seek to highlight the deeply rooted teachings of equality in the Quran and encourage a questioning of the patriarchal interpretation of Islamic teaching through the Quran, hadith (sayings of Muhammad), and sharia (law) towards the creation of a more equal and just society.
Jewish feminism seeks to improve the religious, legal, and social status of women within Judaism
and to open up new opportunities for religious experience and
leadership for Jewish women. In its modern form, the movement can be
traced to the early 1970s in the United States. According to Judith Plaskow, who has focused on feminism in Reform Judaism, the main issues for early Jewish feminists in these movements were the exclusion from the all-male prayer group or minyan, the exemption from positive time-bound mitzvot, and women's inability to function as witnesses and to initiate divorce.
Women's health
Historically there has been a need to study and contribute to the
health and well-being of a woman that previously has been lacking. Londa Schiebinger
suggests that the common biomedical model is no longer adequate and
there is a need for a broader model to ensure that all aspects of a
woman are being cared for. Schiebinger describes six contributions that
must occur in order to have success: political movement, academic women
studies, affirmative action, health equality act, geo-political forces,
and professional women not being afraid to talk openly about women
issues. Political movements come from the streets and are what the
people as a whole want to see changed. An academic women study is the
support from universities in order to teach a subject that most people
have never encountered. Affirmative action
enacted is a legal change to acknowledge and do something for the times
of neglect people were subjected to. Women's Health Equity Act legally
enforces the idea that medicine needs to be tested in suitable standards
such as including women in research studies and is also allocates a set
amount of money to research diseases that are specific towards women.
Research has shown that there is a lack of research in autoimmune
disease, which mainly affects women. "Despite their prevalence and
morbidity, little progress has been made toward a better understanding
of those conditions, identifying risk factors, or developing a cure"
this article reinforces the progress that still needs to be made.
Geo-political forces can improve health, when the country is not at a
sense of threat in war there is more funding and resources to focus on
other needs, such as women's health. Lastly, professional women not
being afraid to talk about women's issues moves women from entering into
these jobs and preventing them for just acting as men and instead
embracing their concerns for the health of women. These six factors need
to be included in order for there to be change in women's health.
Businesses
Feminist activists have established a range of feminist businesses,
including women's bookstores, feminist credit unions, feminist presses,
feminist mail-order catalogs, and feminist restaurants. These
businesses flourished as part of the second and third-waves of feminism in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.
